Agriculture in Butte County
Agriculture and farm management
UI Extension, Butte County works in the areas of beef cattle production, cereal production, forage production and irrigated pasture management.
The growing season in Butte County is relatively short and varies by location and elevation. The short growing season limits which crops can be grown. Most of the precipitation occurs as high-elevation snow during winter and some spring rains.
Cow-calf producers do most of the beef cattle production, although some operators bring or produce yearlings. Beef cattle production depends on grazing on a combination of public (Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service managed) and private land. Mother cows are wintered on a combination of crop residue and harvest and stored hay.
Contact the UI Extension, Butte County office at butte@uidaho.edu or 208-527-8587 for information on current classes and programs.
Cattle production
Beef cattle are a major industry in Butte County and central Idaho. We distribute the “Red Book,” an aid to beef cattle record keeping developed in Idaho and now distributed nationwide. Contact us for information.
UI Extension’s Winter Beef School program includes educational gatherings where experts discuss current topics of interest to local livestock producers. UI Extension also offers calving schools and the Lost Rivers Grazing Academy. Contact our office for details on upcoming events.
Range livestock symposium
The Idaho Range Livestock Symposium is an annual event focused on rangelands and livestock production. Visit the U of I Rangeland Center website for more information.
Related resources
- Grasshopper and cricket identification guide
- Grasshoppers pest in gardens and landscapes
- Idaho Department of Agriculture pesticide licensing information
- Idaho Governor’s Species Conservation
- Idaho Fish and Game wolf management
- Southern Idaho fertilizer guide irrigated alfalfa, CIS 1102
- Alfalfa crop rotation/pest management
- Blister beetles and clover root curculio (pdf)
- Getting the most feed nutrient for the dollar, CIS 1201
- Powdery mildew on barley
- Barley yellow dwarf virus in Idaho cereal crops, CIS 1210